Practical Recommendations for Software Configuration
Below you will see several typical cases of how the application may function and the optimal configuration variants from our point of view.
Terms
- Workstation - a network computer
- Print server - a server one or several printers are physically connected to users working at workstations print documents at
- Desktop printer - a printer that is physically connected to a workstation
- Shared printer - a desktop printer that is connected to one of the workstations and shared for access by all users working on other workstations on the local area network Usually, such printers have network names like \\WorkStation\PrinterName
- Network printer - a printer connected directly to the local area network and not physically connected to any computer on the local area network. Usually, such a printer has a built-in network card
- Print-Server - a device that makes it possible to turn a desktop printer into a network printer. This device usually has one or several ports that can be used to physically connect a printer and one port for connecting to the local network (RJ-45, WiFi, etc.).
Case 1:
- Case description:
-
- Administrator computer 192.168.0.1
- Workstation 192.168.0.2
- Workstation 192.168.0.3
- All computers are connected to one network
- Printers:
- At 192.168.0.3:
- Desktop printer physically connected to the computer and shared for network access (\\192.168.0.3\SharedPrinter). I.e. this printer is a shared printer
- At 192.168.0.2:
- Desktop printer physically connected to the computer (Printer1)
- Printer (Printer2) connected to the shared printer \\192.168.0.3\SharedPrinter
- Task:
- Implement the system of monitoring print jobs.
- Solution:
-
The best way to solve this problem is to install agents on both workstations and enable the Client Side Monitoring mode on them. As a result, print jobs will be monitored on each of the computers at the moment what the jobs are sent to the printer.
Case 2:
- Case description:
-
- Administrator computer 192.168.0.1
- Workstation 192.168.0.2
- Workstation 192.168.0.3
- Hardware print server 192.168.0.4
- All computers and devices are connected to one network.
- Printers:
- At 192.168.0.4:
- Physical printer connected to the hardware print server that is connected to the network in its turn. I.e. this printer is a network printer
- At 192.168.0.2:
- Local printer connected to the network printer with the address 192.168.0.4 via a TCP Port
- At 192.168.0.3:
- Local printer connected to the network printer with the address 192.168.0.4 via a TCP Port
- Task:
- Implement the system of monitoring print jobs.
- Solution:
-
The only way to solve this problem is to install agents on both workstations and enable the Client Side Monitoring mode on them. As a result, print jobs will be monitored on each of the computers at the moment what the jobs are sent to the printer.
Case 3:
- Case description:
-
- Administrator computer 192.168.0.1
- Print server 192.168.0.2
- Workstation 192.168.0.3
- Workstation 192.168.0.4
- All computers and devices are connected to one network.
- Printers:
- At 192.168.0.2:
- Desktop printer physically connected to the server and shared for network access (\\192.168.0.2\SharedPrinter1). I.e. this printer is a shared printer
- Desktop printer physically connected to the server and shared for network access (\\192.168.0.2\SharedPrinter2). I.e. this printer is a shared printer
- At 192.168.0.3:
- Printer (Printer1) connected to the shared printer \\192.168.0.2\SharedPrinter1
- Printer (Printer2) connected to the shared printer \\192.168.0.2\SharedPrinter2
- At 192.168.0.4:
- Printer (Printer1) connected to the shared printer \\192.168.0.2\SharedPrinter1
- Printer (Printer2) connected to the shared printer \\192.168.0.2\SharedPrinter2
- Task:
- Implement the system of monitoring print jobs.
- Solution:
-
Any variant will work in solving this problem. Again, we recommend that you install agents on both workstations and enable the Client Side Monitoring mode on them. As a result, print jobs will be monitored on each of the computers at the moment what the jobs are sent to the printer.
Case 4:
- Case description:
-
- Administrator computer 192.168.0.1
- Print server 192.168.0.2
- Workstation 192.168.0.3
- Workstation 192.168.0.4
- All computers and devices are connected to one network.
- Printers:
- At 192.168.0.2:
- Desktop printer physically connected to the server, i.e. this printer is not a shared printer
- Task:
- Implement the system of monitoring print jobs.
- Solution:
-
To solve this problem, we recommend that you install the agent on the print server only and enable the Server Side Monitoring mode. Then, create a virtual printer for the desktop printer share access to it on the network, i.e. the virtual printer becomes a shared printer. After this step, add printers connected to this newly created shared printer \\192.168.0.2\SharedPrinter on workstation.
As a result, users sitting at workstations will actually print on the virtual printer that is a shared printer. The virtual printer will intercept print jobs and redirect them to the physical printer. Data will be intercepted only at the print server.
Case 5:
- Case description:
-
- Administrator computer 192.168.0.1
- Print server 192.168.0.2
- Workstation 192.168.0.3
- Workstation 192.168.0.4
- Hardware print server 192.168.0.5
- All computers and devices are connected to one network.
- Printers:
- At 192.168.0.5:
- Physical printer connected to the hardware print server that is connected to the network in its turn. I.e. this printer is a network printer
- At 192.168.0.2:
- Local printer connected to the network printer with the address 192.168.0.5 via a TCP Port
- Task:
- Implement the system of monitoring print jobs.
- Solution:
-
To solve this problem, we recommend that you install the agent on the print server only and enable the Server Side Monitoring mode. Create a virtual printer for the local printer and share access to it on the network, i.e. the virtual printer becomes a shared printer. After this step, add printers connected to this newly created shared printer \\192.168.0.2\SharedPrinter on workstation.
As a result, users sitting at workstations will actually print on the virtual printer that is a shared printer. The virtual printer will intercept the print jobs and redirect them to the local printer that will send them to the physical printer via TCP. Data will be intercepted only at the print server.
Case 6:
Finally, we offer you to consider one more variant that draws a line under all the above. We offer you to try to make it out how monitoring print jobs is organized.
The most interesting computer is workstation 192.168.0.2 where the agent is running and two printers are connected. And one of them is connected to a shared printer that is a virtual one. Suppose the user of this workstation sends a job to Printer2. The agent installed on the workstation is running in the Client Side Monitoring mode. Therefore, the image will be intercepted and sent to the data center, while the job will follow its way to the virtual printer created on the print server. The agent installed there will intercept the image and sent it to the data center. As a result, information about printed documents will be doubled. However, it does not happen because virtual printers have higher priority. And if the agent on workstation 192.168.0.2 realizes that the document will be printed on a printer that is a virtual one, it does not intercept the image of the document clearing the way for the agent that is running on the print server. Thus, it is possible to avoid doubled information. In this case, data will be collected in two places: on the print server and on workstation 192.168.0.2, moreover, the agent on the workstation will intercept only those documents that will be sent to the desktop printer Local Printer 2.
Case 7:
The program is completely compatible with Terminal Services. Therefore, you can install an agent on the computer where Terminal Services are running and enable the Client Side Monitoring mode. After that the program will start monitoring all users of all sessions. No additional configuration is required.
Case 8:
- Case description:
-
- The network consists of the head office and several branch offices.
- The head office and the branch offices are connected via a VPN connection
- Task:
- implement the system of monitoring print jobs.
- Solution:
-
One of the possible solutions is installation of Data Centers in each branch office. In this case, information about printed documents is saved to the local databases located on the same computer where the local Data Centers are located. The management console is installed on the administrator's computer.
Using the management console, the administrator located in the head office can connect to both Data Centers in turn, collect statistics from both of them and generate reports.
Case 9:
- Case description:
-
- The network consists of the head office and several branch offices.
- The head office and the branch offices are connected via a VPN connection
- Task:
- implement the system of monitoring print jobs.
- Solution:
-
It is also possible to use a central database in order to implement the system of monitoring print jobs in branch offices. The distinguishing feature of this case is that one database is used for several Data Centers and this database is located in the head office. In this case, information about printed documents from both Data Centers is saved to the common database located in the head office.
In this case, the management console is configured to use the database located in the head office where data from both Data Centers is saved. Also, the management console is used to manage the remote Data Centers located in branch offices.
Case 10:
- Case description:
-
- The network consists of the head office and several branch offices.
- The head office and the branch offices are connected via a VPN connection
- Task:
- implement the system of monitoring print jobs.
- Solution:
-
In case the connection between the branch offices and the head office is stable and permanent, it is possible to use one Data Center. In this case, the Data Center can be installed in the head office and all agents can be configured to work with it. In case the connection between an agent and the Data Center gets broken, information about print jobs remains on the agent computer until the connection is reestablished.
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